Prior to officially unveiling their first lawsuit against President Obama, House Republicans spent months trying to decide what the lawsuit would be about, but in a twist they’ve actually narrowed down a target before discussing their next lawsuit.
Speaker of the House John Boehner told his colleagues this morning that they will sue the president over his executive orders on immigration.
Boehner told his conference at a closed-door meeting Tuesday morning that he has a team exploring the best options to challenge last year’s executive action, under which the Homeland Security Department will begin granting legal working status to millions of immigrants, according to sources in the room.
“Our team has been working on litigation. We are finalizing a plan to authorize litigation on this issue—one we believe gives us the best chance of success,” he said, according to a source in the room.
Some have speculated that this is Boehner’s strategy for placating his more conservative members ahead of a bill to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security.
The Department of Homeland Security will run out of funding next month because congressional Republicans have tied funding for the department to a repeal of not just the president’s executive orders but also his deferred action program for DREAMers. Filing a lawsuit against the president could satisfy those who wouldn’t vote for a clean funding bill under current circumstances.
It’s plausible that this is John Boehner’s short-term plan, but it will be a disaster for the party in the long-term.
Even if House Republicans filed this lawsuit tomorrow, it would likely be stuck in court throughout the 2016 election and beyond. Does the GOP really want to watch each of their presidential candidates answer whether or not they support a lawsuit to deport hundreds of thousands of people?
We also have to ask if anyone will take the House GOP’s next lawsuit to court because two law firms dropped out of their previous lawsuit before professional concern-troll Jonathan Turley decided to take the case.
Congressional Republicans have had years and ample opportunity to act like responsible statesmen and reach a compromise on immigration reform.